IBF against setting up of media council

Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), the largest organisation of television broadcasters in the country, has opposed the proposal for a media council to be formed by the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry. The association has put forward a fresh proposal to form a self-regulatory body to address TV content regulation issues.

The proposal for a media council, currently being studied by the I&B ministry, is an upgradation of the existing Press Council to include content regulation of broadcasting medium and the Internet, along with the print sector.

The corporate structure of the proposed self-regulated body will be discussed by the board of directors of IBF in their next meeting.

The two year-old IBF is headed by Arun Baijal, the chief executive officer of Prasar Bharati, with Kiran Karnik, former head of Discovery Communications India as the vice-president. IBF members include Sony, Star, Zee Telefilms, Balaji Telefilms, B4U, BBC, Doordarshan, Discovery, NDTV, Adhikari Brothers and Sahara TV among others.